ICHAPURAM/BHUBANESWAR: A fierce cyclone tore into India's coast, killing at least five people, forcing half a million into shelters and threatening to devastate farmland and fishing hamlets.
Cyclone Phailin was expected to remain a "very severe cyclonic storm", packing winds of up to 210 kph (130 mph), into Sunday before steadily weakening as it moves inland in the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The storm snapped trees and electricity poles and smashed windows in Brahmapur, a town in the area where it hit land on Saturday evening.
Rescue workers and soldiers spread out across the region in helicopters and trucks and the full extent of destruction was only expected to become clear after daybreak on Sunday.
Some 12 million people were in the path of Phailin, weather and disaster management officials said. It was India's strongest cyclone since a typhoon killed 10,000 people in the same region 14 years ago. Aid agencies hope better preparation and early warnings will mean far fewer casualties this time.
Satellite images showed a vast spiral-shaped storm covering most of the Bay of Bengal's warm seas, before it churned inland.
Jagdesh Dasari, a leader in the fishing village of Mogadhalupadu, said police ordered villagers to leave their mud and thatch huts for a school building as night fell. Many on the impoverished coast were reluctant to go, afraid of losing belongings.
"Many people refused to move, had to be convinced, and at times the police had to forcefully move them to safe places," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.
In the first reported deaths, four people were killed by falling trees, while another died when the walls of her mud house collapsed. Electricity went out in several towns, including Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar.
"We are fortunate that we are here ... we saved our lives," said Narayan Haldar, huddled with 1,300 people in an Odisha fishing village storm shelter, built after the 1999 typhoon.
But he complained the government had not provided food. Some shelters were dilapidated and TV images showed crowds standing in the rain outside one overcrowded building.
Cyclone Phailin was expected to remain a "very severe cyclonic storm", packing winds of up to 210 kph (130 mph), into Sunday before steadily weakening as it moves inland in the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The storm snapped trees and electricity poles and smashed windows in Brahmapur, a town in the area where it hit land on Saturday evening.
Rescue workers and soldiers spread out across the region in helicopters and trucks and the full extent of destruction was only expected to become clear after daybreak on Sunday.
Some 12 million people were in the path of Phailin, weather and disaster management officials said. It was India's strongest cyclone since a typhoon killed 10,000 people in the same region 14 years ago. Aid agencies hope better preparation and early warnings will mean far fewer casualties this time.
Satellite images showed a vast spiral-shaped storm covering most of the Bay of Bengal's warm seas, before it churned inland.
Jagdesh Dasari, a leader in the fishing village of Mogadhalupadu, said police ordered villagers to leave their mud and thatch huts for a school building as night fell. Many on the impoverished coast were reluctant to go, afraid of losing belongings.
"Many people refused to move, had to be convinced, and at times the police had to forcefully move them to safe places," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.
In the first reported deaths, four people were killed by falling trees, while another died when the walls of her mud house collapsed. Electricity went out in several towns, including Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar.
"We are fortunate that we are here ... we saved our lives," said Narayan Haldar, huddled with 1,300 people in an Odisha fishing village storm shelter, built after the 1999 typhoon.
But he complained the government had not provided food. Some shelters were dilapidated and TV images showed crowds standing in the rain outside one overcrowded building.
source: thehimalayantimes.com
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